Darleane C. Hoffman
{{short description|American nuclear chemist (born 1926)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Darleane C. Hoffman
| image = Darleane C. Hoffman 2012 CHF Oral History 2 crop.png
| birth_name = Darleane Christian
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1926|11|08}}
| birth_place = Terril, Iowa, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| field = Nuclear chemistry
| work_institutions = Los Alamos National Laboratory
University of California, Berkeley
| alma_mater = Iowa State University
}}
Darleane Christian Hoffman (born November 8, 1926) is an American nuclear chemist who was among the researchers who confirmed the existence of seaborgium, element 106. She is a faculty senior scientist in the Nuclear Science Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor in the graduate school at UC Berkeley.{{cite web|url=http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/nat-medal-winners.html|title=Darleane Hoffman, Harold Johnston to Receive National Medal of Science|website=www.lbl.gov|access-date=2006-09-24|archive-date=2005-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051116080210/http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/nat-medal-winners.html|url-status=dead}} In acknowledgment of her many achievements, Discover magazine recognized her in 2002 as one of the 50 most important women in science.{{cite news|last1=Svitil|first1=Kathy|title=The 50 Most Important Women in Science|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2002/nov/feat50/|access-date=21 December 2014|publisher=Discover|date=13 November 2002}}
Early life and education
She was born as Darleane Christian on November 8, 1926, at home in the small town of Terril, Iowa, and is the daughter of Carl B. and Elverna Clute Christian.{{cite web|title="Elverna E. Christian," Plaza of Heroines, Iowa State University|url=https://n2t.net/ark:/87292/w9q52fj6r|website=iastate.edu}} Her father was a mathematics teacher and superintendent of schools; her mother wrote and directed plays.
When she was a freshman in college at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University), she took a required chemistry course taught by Nellie May Naylor,{{cite web|title=Nellie May Naylor|url=https://archives.lib.iastate.edu/online-resources/iowa-state-history/people-of-distinction/nellie-naylor|work=History of Iowa State: People of Distinction|publisher=Iowa State University|access-date=19 May 2014}} and decided to pursue further study in that field.{{cite journal|title=Darleane Hoffman: Adventures in the nature of matter|journal=Catalyst Magazine|date=1 February 2012|volume=6|issue=2|publisher=College of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley|url=http://catalyst.berkeley.edu/v6n2/hoffman-adventures-in-matter/|access-date=19 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306104438/http://catalyst.berkeley.edu/v6n2/hoffman-adventures-in-matter/|archive-date=6 March 2014|url-status=dead}} She received her B. S. (1948) and Ph. D. (1951) degrees in chemistry (nuclear) from Iowa State University.{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/darleane-c-hoffman|title=Darleane C. Hoffman|date=2016-06-01|work=Science History Institute|access-date=2018-11-20|language=en}}
Career
Darleane C. Hoffman was a chemist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for a year and then joined her husband at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory where—after an extensive delay where she was denied access to the laboratory because the human resources department refused to believe that a woman could be a chemist[https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/victor-ninov-and-the-element-that-never-was/3010596.article The element that never was], by Kit Chapman, in Chemistry World; published June 10, 2019; retrieved November 23, 2022—she began as a staff member in 1953. She became Division Leader of the Chemistry and Nuclear Chemistry Division (Isotope and Nuclear Chemistry Division) in 1979.{{Cite web|title=Collection: Darleane C. Hoffman papers {{!}} Iowa State University - ArchivesSpace|url=https://n2t.net/ark:/87292/w99b8k|access-date=2021-09-01|website=cardinal.lib.iastate.edu}} She left Los Alamos in 1984 to accept appointments as tenured professor in the department of chemistry at UC Berkeley and Leader of the Heavy Element Nuclear & Radiochemistry Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Additionally, she helped found the Seaborg Institute for Transactinium Science at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1991 and became its first director, serving until 1996 when she "retired" to become Senior Advisor and Charter Director.{{cite web|title=Keynote speaker: D. Hoffman, Ph.D.|url=http://www.llnl.gov/2020/dhoffman.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040804011029/http://www.llnl.gov/2020/dhoffman.htm |archive-date=4 August 2004 |work=LLNL 2020: Women Forging the Future of Science and Technology|publisher=Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|access-date=19 May 2014}}
Over her career, Hoffman studied the chemical and nuclear properties of transuranium elements and confirmed the existence of seaborgium.{{Cite journal|date=2017-09-11|title=Women overlooked for Nobel honors|url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cen-09536-scitech2|journal=C&EN Global Enterprise|language=en|volume=95|issue=36|pages=22–24|doi=10.1021/cen-09536-scitech2|issn=2474-7408|last1=Stu Borman|url-access=subscription}}
Personal life
Right after finishing her doctoral work, Darleane Christian married Marvin M. Hoffman, a physicist. The Hoffmans had two children, Maureane Hoffman, M.D., Ph.D (Duke Medical School) and Dr. Daryl Hoffman (plastic surgeon),{{Cite web|title=Darleane (Christian) Hoffman – SJY Group|url=https://cyclotron.tamu.edu/sjygroup/darleane-christian-hoffman/|website=cyclotron.tamu.edu|access-date=2020-05-13}} both born at Los Alamos.[http://cyclotron.tamu.edu/sjygroup/Biographies/hoffman.htm Darleane (Christian) Hoffman bio page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612194442/http://cyclotron.tamu.edu/sjygroup/Biographies/hoffman.htm |date=2010-06-12 }}, Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University
Awards and memberships
- 2023 – Enrico Fermi Presidential Award{{Cite web |title=Biden-Harris Administration Announces Recipients of the Enrico Fermi Award {{!}} OSTP |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp/news-updates/2023/03/28/biden-harris-administration-announces-recipients-of-the-enrico-fermi-award/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=The White House |date=28 March 2023 |language=en-US}}
- 2014 – Los Alamos Medal {{Cite web|url=https://www.lanl.gov/discover/news-stories-archive/2018/March/0322-history-of-women.php|title=A short history of women at Los Alamos|last=Energy|first=Los Alamos National Laboratory, Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, for the U. S. Department of|website=www.lanl.gov|language=en|access-date=2019-06-17}}
- 2000 – Priestley Medal, (only the second woman to win the Priestley, after Mary L. Good in 1997)
- 1997 – National Medal of Science
- 1990 – Garvan-Olin Medal
- 1986 – Fellow of the American Physical Society
- 1983 – ACS Award for Nuclear Chemistry, and she was the first woman to win the award.
- 1978 – Guggenheim Fellowship
She is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.{{cite web|url=http://www.dnva.no/c26849/artikkel/vis.html?tid=40130|title=Gruppe 8: Teknologiske fag|publisher=Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters|language=no|access-date=7 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927170705/http://www.dnva.no/c26849/artikkel/vis.html?tid=40130|archive-date=27 September 2011|url-status=dead}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/nat-medal-winners.html Darleane Hoffman, Harold Johnston to Receive National Medal of Science] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051116080210/http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/nat-medal-winners.html |date=2005-11-16 }}
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|chemistry}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Darleane}}
Category:Iowa State University alumni
Category:21st-century American chemists
Category:National Medal of Science laureates
Category:UC Berkeley College of Chemistry faculty
Category:Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel
Category:Recipients of the Garvan–Olin Medal
Category:Enrico Fermi Award recipients
Category:Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
Category:American women chemists